the thing is. ryne was not suicide ideating because thancred was a bad guardian to her. that was a mindset she had literally as long as she can remember, one that was beaten into her by ran'jit and vauthry telling her that she would be better off dead. thancred (due to his trauma + emotional constipation + daughter-based trolley problem) does not manage to heal this mindset in her by the time we meet them in 5.0 (to be frank this would be an uphill battle for most caretakers, even ones who don't have the shortcomings thancred has), but what does allow her to stand up to ran'jit is the freedom thancred provided her. she isn't sure if she deserves to live, but she wants to live in the world that she has traveled in. she doesn't want to be put back in that cell. she doesn't know if she's perfect, if she's the "best" minfilia, but she wants to see the world and live as part of it, even if it's scary, even if she hates herself and thinks she's worthless. she wants to see the sky and the trees and to help the people she loves. certain parts of ryne's arc hit me really hard (as someone who was a suicide-ideating teenage girl, and is nowno longer a teenage girl) and this sort of... "incomplete" personal resolution works for me. she managed to scrape out the smallest handhold of wanting to live, but it's enough. it's enough to keep her from giving up on her life. the smallest handhold is enough to hold onto, always. that's the miracle. "to live is to suffer", to quote hydaelyn, but "wanting to see what tomorrow will bring," to quote gaia, is enough. the vast majority of people who attempt regret it, and are glad they failed/didn't go through. you don't need to be convinced your life has worth in order to keep living. this got off-track and a bit personal hahaha, but she's my daughtermelon and her story hits hard. im glad she's happy and thriving, and so is thancred (another person who hates themself and wants to die but refuses to do anything but survive), and so is ryne.

ok so like. imagine. you're a high-ranking government official and one of your colleagues has announced his decision to step down and retire, and named his successor, so you and your coworker-bestie-husband(™️) go on an official administrative business trip to go meet said guy. and then you arrive and you find A Cat in the bushes outside the office. it's in poor shape but its microchip says it actually belongs to your other colleague-and-friend. you are bullied into taking the cat to the vet AND letting it tag along despite your protests. and you finally find the guy you were supposed to meet and the cat is like. staying in the room. where you are supposed to conduct aforementioned highly confidential job interview. and you try to shoo it away but the guy you're trying to interview is like No i want the cat to be there. Because i'm nervous. About the job interview. Let the cat stay. I trust him because my pet bird loves him :). so the cat gets to stay. and then you keep going and you bump into yet another old acquaintance of yours (now retired and living her best hippie life) (which is highly frowned upon) and she goes Oooooh! Is that my cat you've found? :) and you're like, what the fuck is the deal with this goddamn cat, but you can't say that outright because you are a government official on a very important mission, so you go "i wasn't aware you even had a cat? also the microchip says it belongs to our other colleague" and she goes "oh well no i don't but clearly this cat is wearing the collar i give to all my pets so it must mean he's come from the future :) where i will own this specific cat :) hi little kitty! pspspsp!" and you're like, what the fuck is wrong with everyone today? and then the cat looks at you and says "she's right. i come from the future. when everyone has been turned into cats since the world ended. also i will kill you in about twelve thousand years from now. fucker."

I think Gridania is the funniest of the starter city-states in FFXIV, at least for the duration of ARR, because they seem so completely oblivious to their own societal problems. Starting in Ul'dah was really like "yeah so uhhh watch out for The Mafia" so you go "okay yeah i get the gist", then you get to Limsa and someone comes sprinting up to you screaming "THERE ARE NO PIRATES HERE" unprompted so you go "hmm. weird and telling thing to say but i appreciate your candor", then you get to Gridania and it's like "hello! you have entered Paradise City, population 'however many Elezen are here and NOBODY ELSE'" and you're like "hang on do you actually not know what racism is or are you fucking with me?"

Like you'll be talking to Raubahn and Nanamo and they'll be like "oh woe we need to fix the dire income inequality in Ul'dah but we need to wield that very power to enact our plans" and Merlwyb will say "Yeah I'm a military dictator shove it up your ass" and the Kan-E will be like "all i wish for is peace in the Black Shroud... we believe all life has value" and then have the Adders send you out to murder one hundred oppressed miqo'te poachers because she thinks they smell funny

of course these things develop as ARR goes on but this is really silly at the start

The first ever screenshot of Tahri versus the latest one:

Oh how the times change...

Finally updated my pinned post to reflect Tahri's new design.

Go give it a look, it has everything you need to know to get into Tahri Nhupuju, the Biggest Catgirl:

Y'shtola voice: "You don't need to be a master of Black, White, and Blue magic; the restorer of both summoning and nymian scholarly arts; and a 6'3" beefcake to catch my eye."

"Oh, wait, no, you do."

An important part of any wolshtola ship is that Y'shtola should be at least a little bit smug about it.

Like, Tahri is the Warrior of Light, Hydealyn's champion, slayer of gods and ender of wars; master of any craft or technique you can think of. A legendarily kind hero who always gives her all for just about anyone who asks and who can survive anything you throw at her.

In other words, finally someone who meets Y'shtola's standards.

An important part of any wolshtola ship is that Y'shtola should be at least a little bit smug about it.

Like, Tahri is the Warrior of Light, Hydealyn's champion, slayer of gods and ender of wars; master of any craft or technique you can think of. A legendarily kind hero who always gives her all for just about anyone who asks and who can survive anything you throw at her.

In other words, finally someone who meets Y'shtola's standards.

thinking about that moment late Shadowbringers where Y'shtola expresses that she kind of wishes she too had been granted the gift of the Echo, that she might be able to peer into the WoL's heart, and juxtaposing it with this other moment before one of the dungeons that she's looking forward to being able to drop the air of absolute self-control that she's presented to the Night's Blessed and really cut loose and unleash her powers for a change, and it's like... both of these are more or less incidental dialogue, stray almost throwaway lines, and yet...

For as much as she found a place amongst the Night's Blessed, and for how content and comfortable she was with them, she still never really let them see who she is under the surface. She never felt so comfortable as to drop her tightly controlled presentation, to let the mask drop and show her heart in full. For as much as she identifies with, and misses them, she still never let them truly know her - not the way that Y'mhitra, or the real Master Matoya, or even the WoL does.

It makes me wonder if part of what she's wishing she had isn't necessarily so much the Echo itself as it is the ability to share her heart openly, to be able to just drop all the carefully constructed walls for a spell and bare her innermost thoughts and feelings without fear of being dismissed or judged for it.

So for those unaware (which should be most) I actually run a ttrpg campaign set in Eorzea.

And one of my favourite things I did worldbuilding-wise was expanding on and detailing the role of men in Keeper of the Moon society.

Like yes, they're kicked out and expected to be nomadic, but in my campaign it's for a purpose. They have their own, distinct role in Keeper culture as couriers, lorekeepers, mystics, and genealogists.

Want to get a message to another tribe which may or may not be at a number of places in the woods? Tell a wandering man to do it and he will either know where they are, or give it to another man who will.

(My players dubbed this "Male Mail")

Each man is also expected to keep track of the children he has sired (they're not "his kids"), not out of any paternal duty, but simply to avoid any unexpected unpleasantness in the future.

As they are also fairly solitary, they often serve as capable guides and survivalists, and their isolated nature leads to them often having reputations as mystics with ties to strange magic and unexplained phenomena.

can't wait to see graphically remastered emet-selch

shaking you by the shoulders. did you understand the underlying themes and motifs of shadowbringers and endwalker. did you. did you understand how deeply political this narrative is, and how it is inherently antifascist. did you.

Figured out how to remove the benchmark stuff, so have 7.0 Tahri 2.0!

The Metian outfit might be Tahri's Dawntrail fit. Plus some Celeste Green dye and her glasses, of course.

Some screenshots from the Dawntrail Benchmark!

In the character creator she looked a little off, but I should have known that was just the character creation being wonky.

Also have the rest, part one

guys you load into duty roulettes with

unsundered.mp4

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